


SINE DIE

by sephet, Yanastyboi



Series: Sine Die [1]
Category: Original Work, Sine Die
Genre: Aliens, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Anal, Angst, Blood, F/F, F/M, Gore, Hurt/Comfort, Killing, M/M, O/B/A, Science Fiction, Sex, Space Pirates, Touching, Violence, alpha/beta/omega, scifi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-30
Updated: 2017-06-15
Packaged: 2018-10-25 16:31:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10768122
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sephet/pseuds/sephet, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yanastyboi/pseuds/Yanastyboi
Summary: no pirate like a space pirate!





	1. Scene One

**Moose:** Nole takes a drag from his vape, the heat of the vapor making his teeth sting, and lets it out in wispy whorls with his head tipped back. He holds the narrow pen-like device out to Ada as his head lowers passing through the plume of smoke in front of him. The narrow alley street below them is active with local traffic, pedestrians passing through finding the quickest way from point A to B. The smart ones avoid the main street and for the real fear of being trampled.   
  
Above their head rows of dull lights, a mimicry of the night sky, blink above them crackling with electricity as they barely illuminate the street below. The ceiling above them separates the third level from the second and below them is three other levels that create the hellish sprawl of Carmine. A ecumenopolis as they call it, a city that encompasses the entire planet. Levels upon levels of buildings, homes, businesses and streets where every imaginable kind of race and social structure exists divided by a thick layer of concrete and steel.   
  
This was Nole’s home, level two to be precise, he came from a rich enough family to be upper class and he saw sunlight (real sunlight) more than once a year.   
  
“Ida comm yet with the marks location?” Nole asks in a hushed tone, his eyes watching the people mill about below them. His hand still hanging in the air holding the pen for Ada.   
  
“Are you sure you want to take the shot?” He adds in the same soft tone, speaking both to Ada and not all at. If there is concern underlying his question it’s well hidden behind the almost bored, nonchalant way speaks.

 

**Sephet:** Ada accepts the pen slowly, eyes still on the crowd of people moving through the alley. He tilts his head as he breathes in the vapour and considers the situation at hand.    
  
“No location yet.” Ada replies, his voice soft and even as he eyes the wisps rising from his lips and holds the pen out to Nole again. The crowds are beginning to make him edgy, he’s not used to being somewhere so very crowded and overwhelming with noise. His ears twitch back and forth, trying to take in the wall of sound anxiously. It makes him wish he had a hood to pull up and block some of the stimulation out.    
  
He glances sidelong at Nole for the second question, trying to get some sort of read on where it came from. He licks chapped lips as he tries to decide the best way to answer, it’s so hard to tell what Nole is thinking, let alone what he might be thinking of Ada.   
  
“Don’t think that I can?” He tries to ease some of the tension out of his shoulders; he supposes being overwhelmed by the crowd and scared of the next step look very similar from the outside. He tilts his head the other way and tries for a wry smile. “I’m okay.”

 

**Moose:** Nole’s lips pull up in a smile, he takes the vape pen from Ada’s fingers and pulls a second huff. “I am not saying you can not kid.” Nole nudges the solid case at their feet toward Ada. “I am just making sure you are ready. I have not asked you to kill no one yet. Is not exactly an everyday person’s forte. If you know what I mean?”   
  
Nole watches Ada’s face but intermittently looks up at the twitch and flick of the Owbeaye’s ears. The way they move reminds him of when Ida’s tail lifts, she has no animal ears to speak of (a birth defect), but her other animal bits more than make up for the expressiveness of a lack of animal ears.   
  
The longer Nole watches Ada’s ears he notices their constant movement, the undecided way they can not stay still or find direction. Lacking any real knowledge of what it means Nole brushes off the inclination to ask. There was if he had to admit a lot of stuff going on, Carmine was a very lively and busy place. If not for the depressors he took Nole’s sensitive sense of smell would overwhelm him, Carmine smelled like curio shoppe on steroids thrown into a dumpster.   
  
Taking a third long, hard drag of his vape Nole looks away from Ada, reaches down to his wrist to draw his sleeve up and switch him comm frequency. “Ida we need an update.”   
  
The line stays quiet a solid minute before humming to life with a throaty chortle, overtly playful followed by Ida’s voice. “You’re far too sweet, how bout you and I go find ourselves a room. Someplace my boss won’t find.” Ida’s says over the line, she clearly isn’t speaking to either Nole or Ada. Rather to their mark and hopes the implicit directions are clear enough for Nole to decipher.

 

**Sephet:** Ada gives a thoughtful hum as an amused smile tugs at his lips. “I suppose that’s true enough. I was never particularly good at being an everyday person.” He taps a foot lightly on the case to solidify where it is for when he needs to grab it, before they move seems too likely to draw attention. He’s over self conscious sometimes, and already sure his ears are too recognizable for appropriate stealth, he wants to do it all right.   
  
He notices Nole’s attention drifting to his ears here and there and shifts as if pushing hair out of his face to smooth his hands over his ears and try to settle. He tries to make himself just focus on Nole, and the comms. Those are the things that are important, this isn’t a fact finding mission he can filter out the crowd. He can try at least. All things considered the city is a sensory overload waiting to happen .    
  
He taps his fingers restlessly as he listens to Ida’s response, tracing out scars and pointedly resisting the urge to pick at cuticles. He can’t decide if picking up to move without Nole’s instruction would show decisiveness or a lack of discipline, or how much either matters. So he looks at Nole and raises an eyebrow, rolling his shoulders to loosen up and get ready to move. He’s eager to prove he’s capable. “We ready?”

 

**Moose:** Tucking his vape into his pocket Nole gives Ada a curt nod. “Ready as we will ever be.” He looks down at the case where the rifle sits in pieces. “I will see you after this is all said and done. Keep me in sight and wait for the signal, like we discussed on the ship.” Nole reaches up, without much thought, placing a hand over Ada’s head in a quick pat.   
  
“Do not hit me!” He teases and turns from Ada, drawing his hand away, not so much lifting as dragging it over Ada’s hair and brushing his ears.   
  
Nole doesn’t hang around he heads for the door to the stairwell that leads down to the main floor. The building is a narrow apartment complex, with people coming and going enough to allow Nole to slip out into the street.   
  
“When I see you I will pull you aside Ida. Ada knows to take the shot when you are clear.” Nole says over to comm to Ida, who still giggles and praises their mark. Nole can imagine her hanging off him, dressed in her crop-top (god Nole has no idea what he would call it, strip thing) and her tailored dress pants with their gold and silver fine chains, belt and sleeveless overcoat. She was expensive looking eye candy, the finest money could buy, she looked business sexy when she left the ship. Everything their mark could want in a stranger at a top end third district bar.   
  
Nole slips through the sea of people, neon signs lighting the walkway and road. The plan is Ida leads their mark out, guides him to her place, Nole sweeps her aside and Ada takes the shot. They meet up an hour later and collect on the kill and move the fuck on. It was the plan Nole hopes it goes as such.

 

**Sephet:** Ada can’t help the slight blush for the seemingly affectionate gesture, he’s too pale for it to be anything but obvious. He laughs softly and makes a show of straightening his hair. “I’ll be very careful, I promise.”   
  
He watches Nole leave for a moment before stretching out and letting his back pop with a sigh. Time to get to work. He takes the case and settles into position, taking out the pieces and assembling them with care both for getting the job done right and being in position on time. It’s not his first time around this sort of weapon, though his training might not have been conventional or military approved. He can feel himself settling more comfortably into focusing on a task, rather than trying to be social or inconspicuous. He knows guns and a mission and the quiet of preparation, it’s soothing in a way that getting ready to kill a man really shouldn’t.   
  
Once the gun is assembled and set up he lies down to watch through the scope. He locks on the agreed rendezvous point and focuses on breathing slow and even as he waits for Nole’s signal. It’s practically meditation to narrow his focus down to just the rifle, the target and the signal.

 

**Moose:** Ida hangs off the mark a pleasant smile on her face, genuine interest paid to him, even if she sounded over the top, flirting loud and proud. She did find the man interesting and surprisingly handsome too. It was a shame he was about to meet the wrong end of a gun. Under better circumstance Ida could spend some real time to with fella.   
  
“Jacob please, do I look like a hometown girl who don’t know a thing about the big city?” Ida jests to one of the marks, Jacob’s, comments about wishing he’d met her at a better time when he lived on his homeworld. Some farming planet, quaint and peaceful with sprawling hills, distant mountain ranges and the biggest farmhouse you ever seen! It sounded pleasant enough, but Ida lived that life, her family owned a farm on her homeworld and she could go back whenever she pleased. Granted she took her status seriously and found herself a good omega to take care of.   
  
Rounding the corner of the street a neon sign flickers above her head and to her left Nole bumps into her sharply. He loops his arm through hers, stumbles and yanks her from Jacob’s grasp. She nearly falls back with the force of it, but Nole keeps her upright and counters by swinging gracefully behind her and gives her a shove.   
  
Into the street she and Nole disappear and Ida wants desperately to take a look behind her. She knows she shouldn’t even though Jacob has risen his voice, shouting at Nole about manners and stealing (quite literally in this case) someone's girl right off his arm. The usual who does he think he is kind of macho shit.

 

“Look you know sir if you only knew,” Nole yells back, he doesn’t look behind him either just raises his voice about the bustle of the street.   
  
Ida sighs deeply at the sharp crack of gunfire, people shouting and the distinct lack of Jacob’s angry voice. “It’s a shame, he was nice.” She says hooking her arm through Nole’s as they vacate the scene, turning down a random alley with the intention to disappear.   
  
“Yes, very nice, what with all his drug running and his side prostitution ring, oh and that Illittium he grows on his family's farm.” Nole pats her hand.   
  
“You know sure, but he was funny and he paid for drinks.” Ida leans against Nole.   
  
“Are you implying something?” Nole says.   
  
“Nothing at all Captain. It’s just a shame someone with his potential is so wasted.” Ida pulls them to a pause as police pass before resuming their leisurely pace back toward their ship. They decided a 30 minute path back, a stop for take out on the way, was the best path beforehand.   
  
“I don’t want Bohda’s, you’re buying me something from Tilda’s Kitchen after breaking my heart.” Ida comments.   
  
Nole concedes and they return back to the ship with three large take-out bags.

 

**Sephet:** Inhale, exhale. It should probably be more difficult than this. So much more difficult than the twitch of a finger. He watches the man walk arm-in-arm with Ida, squares him in his sight and waits. Keeps his target through Nole’s dance of freeing Ida from Jacob’s arm, it’s handy... Jacob stays still while he berates Nole, it makes it so much easier to line up the perfect shot. Just a twitch of the finger.    
  
Ada watches just long enough to make sure the shot connected and did its job before moving to dismantle and repack the rifle. He’s a little clumsy in his haste, he’s not doing it with quite the precision he should but he gets all the pieces apart and put away, then runs down to melt into the crowd. It really should be much more difficult than all this. Though, he thinks, if he keeps feeling that way things will start to get complicated. It’s really just tempting fate to drop difficulties on their door, that’s the last thing they need. So he breathes and moves with the crowd.   
  
He takes his time finding his way back to the ship, just as they’d planned, weaving through various streets and pretending to be normal until he steps back on board with a sigh.   
  
“Well...” Takis is waiting for them, arms crossed to try and hide their nerves. “Does the take-out mean everything went... um. Correctly?” They aren’t as good with this sort of thing. Sure, the life of a criminal means criminal dealings, they’ve accepted that... it doesn’t necessarily mean they have to be good with it. Probably the reason they stayed behind. Still they don’t hold any of it against the crew, it’s part of life. Instead they set the table so everyone can get something to eat and cool down from the mission.   
  
“From my angle everything looked correct.” Ada spoke softly as he placed the case aside and rolled up his sleeves neatly.

 

**Moose:** Ida goes about pulling take-out containers from their brown paper bags and slides them down the kitchen counter toward Takis. She is very fond of their fretting, less criminally inclined friend and all their efforts to keep the other side of ship life running. The parts of ship life like food, communications, mechanics, laundry, and their more legal business dealings. Takis kept their front going and everything running smoothly when her and Nole slunk off to do the unsavory work that kept them afloat. Ida never really forget about the fact that Takis does this and smiles fondly down at the current container of food she holds.   
  
Nole slips in behind Takis as they work slinging an arm over their shoulder. “My favorite worry wort,” He teases gently pressing a kiss to the side of Takis’s head, affectionate and brotherly in its application. “Ada is right all is well. No one got caught and I do not indent to hang around long enough for anyone to find us.” Nole releases Takis with a little bop to his shoulder and goes around the table to grab the first few take-out containers. Pausing momentarily to buff Ida with his elbow.   
  
“The fried minsal flirting with you?” He teases, receiving a huff from Ida.   
  
“No,” She moves around Nole to the table setting the containers she carries down. Then scoots up to Takis and gives them a half hug with one arm. “Good job Ada come eat and help Takis here calm down.” Ida paps her hand to Takis’s cheek and turns his face toward hers. “To answer your question, yes take out means it went correctly and more importantly we get paid.” She presses her forehead to their’s before letting them go.

 

**Sephet:** Takis laughs softly and leans into all the affectionate contact. It’s so easy for them to care about the crew, dirty deeds and all. They return the half hug and smiles as they press their foreheads together. “I’m glad you’re all safe.”   
  
There were so many ways their imagination provided that the mission could go wrong. The waiting game is always a tricky thing, but now everyone’s home and safe. They bump their shoulder lightly against Ida’s and moves to spoon out some of the takeout onto a plate.   
  
Ada isn’t really sure what he’s supposed to do with all the casual affection going around, so he gives a small smile as he takes his seat. “Yes... everything went well and we’re safe.” He hesitates a moment, making sure that everyone is taking food before dishing himself out a plate, just to make sure it’s acceptable. Good moods can be so unpredictable. “What is our next step?”   
  
“Eating.” Takis snorts with a wry grin. “The next step is getting full, skin-and-bones. You all worked hard and earned us a treat.” It’s sorely tempting to reach over and dump some more food onto Ada’s carefully moderate plate. Though given the option they would urge the whole crew to eat more, they were raised on the belief that you feed your friends and your guests until they are well and truly full. Getting paid means they might get to do some good grocery shopping, they’re looking forward to a chance at whipping up something to spoil their friends.

 

**Moose:** “And once we are good and full,” Nole says and hangs on a pause, waits for everyone to take their share before stealing an entire container of dried pintin for himself. He takes the container in hand and moves himself around the table taking a seat close to Ada. “We find a job that takes us off this planet and someplace quiet while this blows over. Jacob was not exactly a small mark.”   
  
Ida hums a noncommittal sound and waggling her fork at Nole. “Nole we need supplies first, medbay is running low, we need ammo and a few new guns too.” Ida’s voice edges on irritated. “We can’t just hit and run again. Carmine is large and everything is at our fingertips here.” Ida holds the stare Nole shoots her at her suggestion.   
  
“Gun and ammo we can have shipped to us. I will speak to Annas and clear it with him. Medical supplies, food, and anything else we can get on another planet and cheaper. I do not want to be on Carmine when everyone figures out Jacob is dead.” The air of happiness shifts minutely, neither Captain nor Lieutenant are angry, but neither are they happy with one another.   
  
Ida licks her lips, looks away from Nole while holding her chin high. A stupid alpha she was not there is a time and place to argue with Nole and it wasn’t over dinner. Ida takes a deep, loud breath and releases it through her nose. It didn’t mean she couldn’t poke, if he wanted to make Takis and her job difficult then it felt entirely in her right to at least have some say.

 

“I pick the planet then.”   
  
Nole smiles, sets his food down. “The next job picks the planet.”   
  
“If we can find supplies off Carmine, we can find work too.” Ida picks then to look back at Nole, dotting her statement with her fork in the air.   
  
Nole frowns, openly displeased, but has not rebuttal. Fact is it was entirely true, there was work off Carmine like there were supplies, but they were on Carmine why not take a job here. Except jobs meant comm calls, not running around the districts shopping. Nole shakes his head, crosses his arms and stares down at the edge of the table.   
  
“Alphas.” He says and practically feels Ida bristle.

 

**Sephet:** Good moods are so unpredictable. It can be so hard to tell when they will disappear. Ada keeps his expression neutral as he watches Nole and Ida go back and forth. He can see the appeal of both options, but is more on the side of getting the fuck out of there before people start looking. They’d been careful in the kill, but getting away from the scene entirely would be good. Besides all that Carmine was too crowded for his taste, it was hard to handle all the people all doing so much all at once. He was sure many people thrived in such environments, but to him it just felt dangerous. The whole situation was dangerous.    
  
“At the very least... are we able to move to a new section of Carmine? I think... I don’t like staying so close?” Ada stares down at his plate, nervous that voicing his opinion was the wrong move. He’s not sure enough where the line is to avoid stepping over it. With the room tense and an irritated alpha in the room his opinion feels deeply out of place.   
  
“Well wherever we end up going I would surely appreciate the chance to get some shopping done.” Takis speaks up, the chipper tone of their voice slightly forced. They desperately try to forge through the tension with positivity. It wasn’t that they didn’t understand why they needed to be scarce, but they had hoped there would have been a chance to take care of their inventory. Things were getting a little bare, and a medbay short on supplies was just asking for everything to go wrong. “If not here, then can we go somewhere good for it? Stocking up the ship’s supplies would be a good idea. An empty pantry won’t do any of us any good. And skinny here can’t afford to lose more weight.”   
  
Ada nearly jumps and puts his hands up a little defensively, he doesn’t want to be the point of focus in this argument. “I’m perfectly healthy. Don’t – um. There’s no need to worry about that. Please.”

 

**Moose:** Ida growls under her breath in her own language, something along the lines of drug dependant man child, and pointedly looks at Ada before she gets up. She doesn’t mean anything by it, but he is the only one who will understand her. Ida sets her food aside and with nothing else said she leaves the room.   
  
Nole watches her leave and looks a little stupid as they sit in silence.   
  
“So,” Nole pokes at his food. He intended to rile her up, yes, but not make her leave the table.   
  
Nole is all too surprised when Ida returns only to throw a handful of boxes at the back of his head. They hit with a soft thud of cardboard against his dense skull, then litter the floor. Nole yelps Ida’s name followed by a loud “WHAT THE HELL” before turning. At his feet are a scatter of boxes, some labeled suppressants, other depressants.   
  
“We need medical supplies above all else Nole. You are out of depressants and there is only so much your drugs can dull before you are smelling this entire ship. We are almost out of suppressants and,” Ida moves over to Nole and makes a show of picking up one of her suppressant boxes in particular. She waves it in Nole’s face before setting it on top of his food container and leans back against the table.   
  
“I am due for a medication switch and you know what that means.” Ida quirks her head to the side.

 

**Moose:** “Cycle break,” Nole picks up the box with a wrinkle of his nose and drops it to the floor.   
  
“That’s right a cycle break, which means this ship. Every hall and room is going to smell like grandma’s kitchen for at least a fucking month.” Ida leans back with one hand flat on the table, and uses her other hand to waggle a finger at Nole.   
  
“I don’t know about you but I think a medical resupply is at least warranted before we leave. I think we can handle a few other things while we grab that stuff too. Don’t you,” Ida pauses looks at Ada and Takis. “Captain.”   
  
Nole sets his food down, crosses his arms hangs his head back. “You win Ida.” He concedes, as lovely as Ida’s scent was and as much as he personally can handle it. It simply wasn’t fair to Ada, an omega, to suffer a alpha strutting around with the very, very high potential to go in to rut.

 

**Sephet:** Ada keeps his face neutral, though his ears twitch with agitation. He hates how expressive they are, he has trouble keeping them from getting him into trouble. He follows Ida with his eyes as she leaves, then glances sidelong at Nole for the brief period of silence.   
  
Takis hisses a breath through their teeth and watches the dwindling contents of their medbay clatter to the floor. They probably should have kept better stock, just because they don’t experience scent issues like their crewmates doesn’t mean it isn’t all important. There just either hasn’t been the money or the time to keep everything stocked up.    
  
“I’ll do a full inventory tonight to figure out what we need. I can try and take care of the shopping while you finish or start other transactions?” Takis leans back in their chair and chews their thumbnail nervously. “I can take care of it.”   
  
Ada considers his food a moment then looks to his crewmates to try and gauge just how close the room is to exploding. “I am still concerned… not an hour’s walk from here I have just killed a man. That still requires caution… I want to stock up supplies but.” He hesitates, the issue is mostly handled already. Nole has admitted defeat in a way. Ada is still nervous. But is nervous good enough of a reason to set things alight again? “I’m wrong… I’m sorry. I’m fretting. Medication is more important a concern.”   
  
Takis shakes their head, pushing their chair out from the table and standing. “I understand time is of the essence, I will get everything organised. If we’re staying to restock we’re staying to restock. Let’s not push this further than it’s gone. If Ada needs to lie low on the ship then he can do that, if we need to move to another part of the city we can do that. For now…” They sigh and put their hands on their hips. “I’m gonna get started working. I think the best thing that y’all can do right now is to eat sleep and get ready for the day tomorrow. That’s when we gotta stop worrying and start doing?”

 

**Moose:** Nole shakes his head and sets his food aside appetite gone. He doesn’t like this at all, he doesn’t want to stay on Carmine medication be damned. He takes a deep breath his mouth a thin line of displeasure. There was no arguing his way out of this, Ida made her point and his crew (the traitors) generally agreed with her. He could put his foot down and say no, but he knew the repercussions and they weren’t in his favor.   
  
Ida watches on deciding after a few awkward moments of silence to remove herself from Nole’s space. “Don’t worry we’ll handle it. You can stay on the ship.” Ida says, and it is like salt in a wound.   
  
Nole gets up and leaves the room. No more argument or plans he will leave this decision to his crew. They were grown adults they could shop on their own, even if they were wanted for the assassination of the planet's largest drug supplier.   
  
Nole heads for the command of the ship, settling himself among his favorite things. His ship, it’s buttons and controls, and stares out through the window at the busy, dark streets of Carmine the people milling about. No one knew they did it, he reminds himself, but it doesn’t sit well they should leave and he knows it. Nole sits back in his pilot's seat, feet up on the console and closes his eyes covering his face with his hands.


	2. Scene Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ada and Nole meet Isha! + A Shopping Trip!

##  sephet

Takis sighs and slumps a little dramatically, covering their face in their hands. “Awesome.” This was an annoying hitch in what could have been a good evening. They shake their head and grab their plate. “I’ll be taking inventory, so if you need me I’ll be with our dwindling supplies…” They brush a hand over Ida’s shoulder as a gesture of support, and to see how she’s doing before being on their way.    
  
They lean against the wall in the supply room with a groan, they hate conflict… everyone being tense and surly and on edge was a nightmare. It was bad enough knowing what had happened, that they were responsible for nasty business was… they tried to put it out of their mind. Nole had a point in that way though, and Takis didn’t want their friends and crewmates in trouble or killed over this. The only solution they could think of though was just to work faster. If they got all the shopping finished quickly they could get over all this tension and back into the flow of things. Nole would probably be less upset once they were on their way, Takis figured, and Ida would be happier once they were fully supplied and out of the danger zone. They had no idea what would make Ada happier, but they figure that once everything calmed down he would settle too.

 

Ada’s ears pin down and he runs his hands over his hair nervously. He hates the tension, the fact that he doesn’t really agree with the finalised decision… It’s never good to have the ones in charge upset. And upset with each other is even worse than that. He sighs heavily and pushes himself to his feet. The food is nearly untouched, and he puts the boxes away for later, they’re all adults, they’ll eat when they’re hungry. So long as there’s food. It’s tempting to take something to Nole, to see if he can set things right again… but some people need to be left alone. He hopes he can find a way to make it up later.   
  
He undresses once he gets to his room and takes a long moment to look over his arms. He takes a deep breath and moves past that, pulling on a large worn out sweater to sleep in. He hates feeling like this, torn up and confused about where he’s supposed to stand… it takes a lot of focus not to get out of bed once he’s in it, buzzing with some pale mockery of energy. He needs to sleep if he’s going to be useful, thinking about that lulls him slowly to sleep.The next morning Takis is nursing a mug of coffee, with a fresh pot brewing. They’re buzzing with fake caffeinated energy, but they’ve written out all that needs to be taken care of in order of necessity. They hope they can still pick up a few frivolous things. The crew needs something frivolous and happy right now. As is they’ve thrown together a neat breakfast for whoever wakes up early enough to eat something.    
  
Ada wakes up slowly, and while he’s up and out of bed he’s not fully there. It takes him fifteen minutes of stop-start stumbling to dress, plainly as possible with an oversized hoodie to hide himself. He’s not exactly feeling great but he’s not exactly surprised. He doesn’t feel sure-footed among the crew enough yet to know where he stands after this fight. He wants to slip through the day unnoticed until the anger passes. They’ll leave soon, hopefully. That will make things better.

##  Moose

Ida strolls into the kitchen fixes herself a cup of coffee, taking a moment to press a kiss to Takis’ cheek in thanks; lingering to lean against them and take in their warmth. The itch of rut picked at the surface bolstered by stress and frustration.   
  
Ida’s morning started with stunted conversation with Nole through the cockpit door. Him refusing to open the door, her refusing to leave him be until he did, neither coming to any compromise. Ida left him to his devices, her day would progress as planned with or without Nole’s cooperation.   
  
“Where is Ada, he not awake yet?” She asks shuffling through the kitchen in search of her granola stash.

##  sephet

“Mornin’” Takis smiles softly and gives Ida a quick squeeze around the shoulders. “How’re things going?”   
  
They stretch with a wide yawn as Ida goes in search and then shrug, Ada isn’t the most reliable of risers. It’s hard to know when he’s up and hiding in his room or if he’s slept in. “He’s not exactly the chipperest of morning people…”   
  
It takes a couple minutes more before Ada does show himself, shuffling groggily into the kitchen with his hood up over his head. He takes a quick, bleary eyed look around the kitchen before stepping in fully and giving a little wave as greeting. He’s not even sure, in retrospect, what side he was on in the argument last night. And what that means for this morning.

##  Moose

"Nole is and at this moment seems have decided to forever remain an asshole." Ida says taking out her food and setting it aside. "Never did leave the cockpit he slept there all night like a fucking child. It will not," Ida makes a grunting sound as she reaches for a bowl on the top shelf of the cupboard. "surprise me if the fucker strands us the second we leave the ship." Ida fills her bowl with granola, adds a small bit of milk, and snags a spoon from the sink.   
  
As Ada steps in Ida lifts her head from her meal and smiles around the spoon in her mouth. "Speak of the devil. Good morning---" Ida sniffs lightly as she pulls her spoon from her mouth. "Smokey..." Ida closes her eyes, shivers a little, and brushes it off. She hadn't smelled the scent of an omega in some time she wasn't about to let the barest hint of one fuddle her up, though it was very much hitting the right buttons. Ada's scent, even the slightest hint, was nice on her pallete.

##  sephet

Takis heaves a heavy sigh and shakes their head, figures. “I doubt he’d strand us, but we probably shouldn’t dilly dally.” They rub their neck as they consider things, it’s annoying that Nole’s so far in his mood right now. “He’ll get over it when it’s all finished probably.”   
  
“Sorry…” Ada bites his lip and pulls his hood up further. He hunches his shoulders up a little guiltily and carefully walks around the table to get to the coffee and the cups. He pours himself a cup, trying to be as little a presence as possible. Ida’s scent seems so much more gentle than his, though that doesn’t keep it from being a little distracting. He isn’t due to go into heat any time soon so long as they can get fresh medication swiftly, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t all feel a little bit tense. “What… um. What’s the plan?”

##  Moose

Ida gives her head a little shake, she is far from apologising for noticing the kids scent, and clears her throat awkwardly instead. Alpha instincts be damned she wasn’t going to try to placate the kid just because she hit a nerve. Even if the way he hid away made her want to scootch across the room and bump up beside him with a playful, well meaning nudge to get him to look at her.   
  
Ida shovels a two more spoonfuls into her mouth. Swallowing roughly around the last and sets her bowl aside. Her stomach twists a little around its contents an unpleasant reminder of the impending rut.   
  
Ida hangs her head a moment willing her granola to stay down, before speaking. “Plan is to head out, get our shit done quickly starting with medical supplies. Closest medshop is further in than I like. Come back, hopefully Nole hasn’t abandoned us, drop our shit off. Then get some food, the market outside our door will do. Then we leave. I think we can do in three hours.” Ida explains pace slightly rushed.

##  sephet

Takis sighs as they watch Ada curl up with only a cup of coffee for breakfast, they know he barely touched supper. How this kid stays healthy is beyond them. “It’ll be a long morning, but it shouldn’t last long enough to cause any trouble. So long as Ida’s pessimism doesn’t come true and Nole sticks around. If he leaves that’ll cause some problems.”   
  
“Is he that angry?” Ada frowns with concern. He doesn’t like the idea of Nole being so angry with them he would really leave them behind. He takes a drink of his coffee and chews his lip. “Maybe I should try bringing him breakfast... Does he know the plan?”   
  
“He knows, he’s just sulking.” Takis sighs and finishes their coffee before standing up. “If we wanna be quick we gotta leave quick, though. Seems he’s not coming out or feeling chatty so it might be best if we made our way out pretty quick here.”

##  Moose

Ida huffs at Ada’s suggestion poor kid hadn’t been on the ship long enough to know how Nole worked. She moves across the room and places a hand on Ada’s shoulder. “Nole’s a brat and a petulant child when he doesn’t get his way. Don’t worry about that man baby.” Ida squeezings Ada’s shoulder and leans down to whisper next to his hooded head. “Eat something kid.” She says and leaves him.   
  
“Meet you two outside. I’m grabbing my bag and we can go.” Ida catches Takis’s eye, and mouths ‘feed him’ before heading up the short steps to the quarters of the ship.   
  
It isn’t long before they’re all outside the hangar door of the ship closed tight. Ida throwing a look up at the cockpit and the man she knows has to be watching by now. Nole really was a kid sometimes and she knew better than to push his buttons too often, but they needed the meds. Her rut was inevitable but it was no kindness to put Ada through the same, it was going to be rough enough on him having to smell her cloying apple cider and the demand his biology would most likely make. Like an alpha omegas wanted to help just as much.   
  
Ida laughs to herself, it’s not amused sounding but frustrated. How in the hell did she end up in situations like this. Ida starts to walk headed into the crowd her boys, she hopes, behind her.

##  sephet

Ada blushes, a little embarrassed at sounding foolish, but nods and mumbles his acknowledgement. He feels like he should offer some token of apology to Nole before they leave, but there clearly isn’t time for it, and the others don’t think it needful. “All right.”   
  
Takis grins at Ida before she heads out and turns their gaze to Ada who is giving it a good effort to not pout, but that’s the only way to describe his expression. They laugh and begin sorting through what they have left in the kitchen, there has to be something they can convince Ada to eat.    
  
Ada is less impressed with the idea, a little uncomfortable as Takis offers him fruit, cereal and some other basics they have in their shelves, eventually resorting to an energy bar. It’s not really enough to satisfy Takis as a proper breakfast but it’s more than nothing so they’ll take it. He’s still slowly forcing himself through the bar when they get to the door, only sulking a little that the others convinced him into it. It’s a casual sulk, like a sullen teenager rather than anything with real temper behind it though. Small as he is, with his hood pulled up he’s very much the image of someone’s lost grumpy kid.    
  
Takis ruffles his hair through the hood and moves to walk beside Ida. “I’m sure if we buy him some candy he’ll stop throwing a temper tantrum.” They only barely glance toward the cockpit to imply which ‘he’ they’re speaking of. “It’ll be fine soon enough.”

##  Moose

“He’s getting raisins!” Ida comments back.   
  
The streets are as packed during the day as they are at night. People mill about in droves between stalls, through the narrow alleys, up and down the public paths. A variety of faces filter past Ida so quickly and many reeking of sour scent. It’s enough to make Ida cover her mouth and slow nearly to a stop until Takis bumps into her.   
  
“Maybe I shouldn’t have lead this expedition.” Ida comments tucking an arm around Takis’s waist and leaning into them. She turns her head to buff her nose against their shirt and takes a shallow breath. Takis smell entirely human, neutral with a natural musk many scentless species have. Theirs is accented by the chemical tint of deodorant that Ida likes, a basic spiciness she can’t name.   
  
[Isha to Mich, targets moving northwest. The Captain is missing. I have the shooter.] Isha says over her comm and slows her pace on the opposite side of the road from her target. Her assignment was clear apprehend Ada Tamid, omega male, Jacobs alleged killer. The rest of her team would handle the others, everyone had their target and the specific assignment. All she had to do was keep in contact and do her job.

##  sephet

“Mmm the treat for bad kids everywhere.” Takis snickers, then casually wraps an arm around Ida’s shoulders. They may not know first-hand what it’s like to experience scent like the others do, their nose is pretty limited in comparison, but they do understand that things can be overwhelming for Ida. “We’ll get it all finished as quick as we can. Then we can get outta here.”   
  
They imagine it must be difficult taking in as much as the others do. They know Nole takes depressants for this reason, and that Ada is slowly shrinking more and more into his hood in the same way. Especially on a street so packed and busy as this is. It’s simple for Takis, they’re relatively good with crowds, good with people. “I can take the head. I know what we need to get.”   
  
Ada pulls his hood a little tighter around his ears and tries to focus on the remains of his energy bar instead of the waves of scent and sound bearing down around him. Whenever they do get to leaving this planet he’ll be grateful, he’s bad at dealing with people at the best of times, large groups of noisy smelly people was the worst. Hopefully they didn’t get delayed in their shopping and they could return to the ship soon.   
  
[Understood. I’ll move in to the ship to investigate further.] Michaelis responded, cracking his neck as he moved in toward the ship. Infiltration made the mission a little more tricky, it would have been so much easier if the Captain had moved out into the open with the rest of the crew, but it wasn’t anything above his pay grade, just enough to complain about. Finding his way in while keeping out of sight was a pain in the ass, but all things considered it should only be the captain on board, and that much could be handled even if Michaelis did something stupid like get spotted.

##  Moose

Ida matches pace with Takis and allows Them to guide her through the streets. For the most part the walk is uneventful, dreadfully smelly and not particularly enjoyable from a sensory experience.    
  
They all arrive at the medical supply shop intact and ready to shop.   
  
Ida is the first to dislodge herself from Takis, beelining for the pharmacy before any line can form. She reaches the counter tapping the protective glass to get the technician's attention, they eye her with displeasure on their features but come to aid her anyway.   
  
Ida orders her meds, a few things for Nole (very “off the record”), Ada’s things and general medicine they normally have on hand but are running low on. The proceedings take several minutes as the tech logs them into the computer, Ida idly conversing with the tech who speaks kindly despite their clear desire to get back to their previous task.   
  


  
Isha pauses midst the moving crowd on the street, watching as her targets appear to reach their destination. Two enter the pharmacy, one remains outside pressed close to the builds wall trying their best to obstruct as little foot traffic as possible. Isha watches for several minutes parsing her limited options and their results.   
  
A few more minutes pass with absolute radio silence before she breaks it. [Apprehending Ada Tamid in five.] Isha says over the comm.   
  
[Four.] She moves to hop the steel barrier between her and the road.   
  
[Three.] She crosses the street, hops the second barrier.   
  
[Two.] She does a careful turn around a couple locked at the lips, walking past Ada.   
  
[One.] Isha bumps her back against the wall next to Ada with soft ‘uf’ and with one hand grasp the Omega’s wrist and with the other she reaches across him jabbing with full force a pressure activated injection device.   
  
“Hello Ada,” Isha says sweetly and uses her own body to brace the Omega. “You might feel a little woozy, it is okay it’s supposed to happen. Just let it. I’ve got you.”

##  sephet

Takis lets Ida break off and talk to the tech, even lets Ada sulk outside if he wants. Sometimes they really have to wonder if omegas age slower than everything else? The way people act Omega seems to mean something, and Ada is small and awkward for his age. They sigh and idly make their way down the aisles finding the supplies they need, bandages and basic meds. If Nole is going to continue having a tiff then they’re all probably going to need something for headaches, nothing says pain in the ass like Boss In A Bad Mood.   
  
Ada is about to shift away from the sudden stranger in close proximity when she reaches out to grab him. He could about kick himself for suddenly forgetting all the fighting he knows how to do, she’s got his hand faster than he’s prepared for and while he tries to shrug her off and shove her he feels the sedative kick in. Stupid. Instead of shoving her away he ends up bracing against her as he slumps down. So sloppy…

 

Michaelis sighs, breaking into the ship was one thing but navigating the stupid thing was a completely different operation. Not that breaking and entering wasn’t part of his skill set, but it’s easier to sneak through a mark’s home when you know the mark’s out or asleep. Moving quietly down halls, well aware any corner could lead him to a fight was… well mostly it was a pain in the ass. Figures Isha would get the easy task of plucking some kid off the street. Kids get plucked off the street every day by complete idiots, he gripes silently to himself. No, he has to go find a grown ass man in his own home.    
  
His investigation takes him to the cockpit, which just sorta figured, it was either that or whatever kind of master bedroom you find in a ship like this. Captain would imply in charge, and in charge means first dibs on the best rooms, right? As quietly as he can he places the magnetic lock pick against the door and sets it to work opening things up, maybe he’ll get lucky and the Captain will be listening to music or not paying attention to random taps and knocks? Either way he has the sedative injector ready at hand and he’s braced to move as fast as he can. All he needs to do is get close. He doesn’t need to worry about a fair fight, just taking down Nole and getting him out and back to base. As soon as the door clicks open he rushes in to attack.

##  Moose

He doesn’t expect it when it happens, the door to the cockpit comes open with a hiss of protesting hydraulics. Inside the door isn’t Ida as Nole expected, rather an unfamiliar face that sends Nole’s heart racing. He was weaponless, dressed down to his boxers with a t-shirt on (no shoes either) and unprepared to fight.   
  
“Who the fuck,” Nole shouts and with nothing else to do throws the data pad on his dash at the intruder.

##  sephet

He just barely manages to dodge the data pad, stumbling slightly when he lurches to the side. He catches his footing easily though and resumes his charge. He just has to get close, so he runs directly at Nole, trying to press the injector against his arm, neck, somewhere, to put this fight to an end.

##  Moose

A struggle is the last thing Nole expects to have in his own goddamn cockpit, but here he was bracing against a complete stranger pressing down on him. Nole can’t tell what the guy has his hand, but he’s determined to hit him with it and Nole isn’t about to let him.   
  
Nole grips the stranger by both wrists holding them away from himself while kicking out. Unfortunately the guy is between his legs and pressing down into his crotch, keeping clear of his flailing legs. The whole thing comes to a sudden, dizzying end. Nole’s arms buckle unable to continue to hold the man at bay and he feels a sharp, jabbing pain in his shoulder.   
  
“Goddamn mother fucker,” Nole shouts, struggles and is surprised when the man gets off of him quickly. Nole doesn’t waste time getting to his feet only to find the ground rushing back up to meet him. “F-fucker,” Nole collapses on the floor groaning in protest, this was a cheap move he wouldn’t soon forget; whenever he happens to wake up that is, he hopes he does as the darkness swallows him.


End file.
